Before Versailles focuses on four intense months of King Louis’s young life. It’s the summer of 1661, and after the death of his prime minister, twenty-two-year-old Louis steps into governing France. He’s still a young man, and in a way quite inexperienced and shy, but also very determined, intelligent and headstrong. He’s used to having anything and everything his heart desires—land, women—including his brother’s wife.
As the love affair between the two burns, it sets the kingdom on the road toward unmistakable scandal and conflict with the Vatican. He must face what he is willing to sacrifice for love. At the same time, there are other problems lurking outside the château of Fontainebleau: a boy in an iron mask has been seen in the woods, and the king’s finance minister, Nicolas Fouquet, has proven to be more powerful than Louis ever thought—a man who could make a great ally or become a dangerous foe.
